Edwin Russell Cape

June 19, 1937 – July 15, 2026

Edwin Russell Cape, 89, of Collinsville, Oklahoma, passed away on July 15, 2026, at Herman House in Sperry, Oklahoma.

Edwin was born June 19, 1937, in Steelville, Missouri, to Wilbur Russell Cape and Elaine Cape, the oldest of five children. He grew up in Steelville, graduated from Steelville High School, where he served as vice-president of his senior class, and spent ten years as an active member of his local 4-H chapter, the Go Getters 4-H Club, serving as its president and showing cattle.

In 1959, Edwin joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, serving until his honorable discharge in 1965. He carried a deep and lasting pride in his service and remained fiercely patriotic throughout his life.

Edwin possessed an unshakable optimism and an internal drive that convinced him he could accomplish nearly anything he set his mind to. That confidence, paired with a natural showmanship, led him to play the role of Old Matt in the outdoor drama Shepherd of the Hills in Branson, Missouri.

He married Marian and in 1969 the two made their home in Collinsville, Oklahoma.

Edwin was always on the go, moving from one project to the next. His work ethic bordered on the ridiculous — he hardly ever sat still, always looking for the next thing to build or chase. He was also a natural storyteller, and loved nothing more than telling one, a gift that served him well in the public-facing careers he built one after another.

That restlessness fueled an unquenchable entrepreneurial spirit. He began his working life as an insurance adjuster, rising to Claims Manager for Great American Insurance Company, then earned his license as a private investigator and ran his own investigation firm in the early 1970s. He went on to found Exhibitor Western, a business supplying western marketing materials, apparel, and jewelry. In the early 1980s, he started a purebred cattle sale management business, Ag Dynamics, organizing and managing numerous purebred cattle sales, and from the mid-1970s through the early 2000s he raised his own herd of purebred Simmental cattle. He also helped organize and found the Heart of America Appaloosa Association, serving as its president for its first three years.

Edwin was deeply committed to his community. He served as president of the Southside Sertoma Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as chairman of the Washington County Rural Water District, and as a volunteer fireman.

Edwin later returned to his insurance adjusting roots, working as a catastrophe adjuster following Hurricane Hugo's landfall in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1989, a career he continued into the 2010s. He was on assignment adjusting earthquake claims in Los Angeles when the 1992 riots broke out around him, one of many stories from a career defined by showing up wherever the work was needed.

Over the last twenty years of his life, Edwin turned a lifelong love of collecting antique western and cowboy gear and memorabilia into his final business, Traildust Antiques.

Edwin was preceded in death by his parents, Wilbur Russell Cape and Elaine Cape; his sisters, Flora Sidebottom and Norma Brown; and the love of his life, Marian Cape.

He is survived by his brothers, Wayne Cape and Harold Cape; his sons, Joel Cape and Wayne Van Dolah; his daughters, Julie Dizmang and Jill Downs; his grandchildren, Gracie Cape, Waylon Cape, Kristinia Prewitt, Randall Van Dolah, Sarah Cain, Michael Bramlett, Rebekah Bramlett, and Rachel Bramlett; and his great-grandchildren, Dakota Doss, Noah Doss, Jordan Exton, Roman Jimenez, Isaac Ayers, and Silas Ayers.

A funeral service will be held Friday, July 24, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at Collinsville Dolton Funeral Home in Collinsville, Oklahoma.